Gary Bettman: The Four Nations Was A Terrific Event

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Learn more at americanexpress.com slash Amex Business. Let's kick it off. This is the Rich Eisen Show.

Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Butler will drive in. The shot's good. And you're gonna put him on the line.

That should step that three. Mitchell drives the lane. Today's guests. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, senior writer for the MMQB. Albert Breer, former NFL general manager Mike Mayock. And now it's Rich Eisen. That's right everybody. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Live on the air on the Roku Sports Channel.

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YouTube.com slash Rich Eisen Show, which we're proud to say went over 900,000 subscribers over the weekend. We're in Fuego, to use the phrase of our buddy. You can't stop us.

You can only hope to contain us. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you?

Rich, I'm great. I am going to throw this week in case anyone was asking. Okay, good.

Good to know. Punches? Verbal? Punches? Sure. Okay. Good to see you.

DJ Mikey D is in D's nuts. Good morning, Rich. His one day this week of the Rich Eisen Show residency. When's your other one? Thursday. Hey, which is great because Susie will be in the chair and she loves you.

She protects you like O'Shea Jackson Jr. does. Oh, by the way, that's my guy. That's your guy. Oh, geez. Well, good to see over there, Mikey. Good to see you, TJ Jefferson. What do you got on your grease board?

What do you got? You know, you know, we built this city. I know what that's like to my man. Guess what? Guess what? We'll make it rain on that front later on. We'll make it rain on that front later on. Let's go.

So you just alluded to it, Christopher. Straight up. I want everyone to throw at the combine.

You know why? Because I sit there like it's a telethon for four straight days talking about, you know, track and field, essentially, in a golf voice and try to make it as interesting as compelling television as possible. Daniel, Jeremiah and I are sitting next to each other, you know, like we're like we're in a van listening in down the road, you know, coffee, breath and BO like the phrase from Midnight Run. We're sitting there.

We're sitting there at three o'clock Eastern for four straight days, sometimes for six hours, sometimes for five, sometimes for seven. And so we're trying to make compelling television and the most compelling television would be if every single top prospect in the NFL's draft pool participates. That's what we're looking for. And it is combine week and it always starts with the news of who's not throwing at the combine because they are top of the football chain quarterbacks. And we found out today that Shadore Sanders will not throw. We'll see him at his pro day. Ian Rappaport popping that one out there and plans to focus on his interviews with teams at the NFL scouting combine, helping them continue to learn him as a person. He'll allow for his four years of film to speak loudly. I love that. I can't wait to when I see Rapsheet. I'm like, who added the word loudly?

Then throw at his pro day with four draftable Colorado wide receivers. His four films, four years of film work will speak. Not softly. It will not speak softly.

They should speak well because it's pretty good tape. Hey man. And then Cam Ward. It appears that teams, the latest I heard from an email from the NFL network news desk, Cam Ward, teams are not expecting to see him throw, which is a bummer.

I'm not going to lie. We want everybody to be out there and throwing. Now to be fair and balanced here, Caleb Williams didn't throw it last year's scouting combine. He wound up first overall, but he was out there. And what we ended up talking about him being out there is what a good guy he was because he was in fact there rooting on his USC teammates who are out there performing in the wide receiver group and the other groups that were out there when the quarterbacks were out there as well on that Saturday at the combine. And he was also going around like shaking the hands of every staff member, the ones who were driving the golf carts around to pick up the tackling bags and things like that. Shaking their hands, meeting with them, thanking them, thanking the videographers who were out there who shoot the video of all the workouts because every team gets a tape off of the combine or I guess what a digital footprint now that I just betray my age by calling it a tape. Like a tape.

Still get those? Uh-huh. Tape. And Jaden Daniels, he did not throw at the combine and that, as you know, looking back, truly destroyed his first season. Well, that held him back.

Yeah, really slowed him down. If only. Talk about headwinds, you know what I mean? So I get it. I get it. I get it.

I get it. But those guys were clearly the 1-2 of the draft. We knew that. The question was, you know, would be 1-2-3. Remember there's a question, would it be 1-2-3-4 last year?

Oh yeah. With May and maybe JJ McCarthy would pop up 4. You know, if somebody would trade with Arizona. Arizona's like, you know what, we're just going to stick here and let everybody choose their quarterbacks and we'll snag Marvin Harrison Jr.

So again, I get it. But last year those guys were the clear top two picks in the NFL draft. I don't know if Cam Ward and Shadore Sanders are the clear top two picks of this year's draft. Certainly since we're wondering what the Tennessee Titans are going to do. Certainly if we're wondering what the Cleveland Browns are going to do. And it could it could it be Abdul Carter first overall? And the question is, is Shadore even going to be the first Colorado Buffalo off the board? And by the way, I'm wondering if the four draftable wide receivers that Ian Rapoport was referring to includes Travis Hunter. Gotta be.

Should. Right? Who was it that told us he'd be the he's basically the wide receiver won in this draft if he was going to do that full time. That was Mayock, who's going to join us later in hour number three. It was Todd McShea who at the Senior Bowl I asked who who is the best offensive player in the draft and he said Travis Hunter.

Yeah. So this is good news, though. This is great news for Jackson Dart. Amazing news for Jalen Milro, your guy, Kyle McCord. Great news for them because we will be talking about Riley Leonard, those guys nonstop all day on the Saturday coming up on NFL Network. Jackson Dart is going to be front and center and all I'm going to do is pepper Daniel Jeremiah with questions about him and questions about his pro prospects and questions about who could trade up at the end of the first round to go select him and get a fifth year of contractual control and which team would do it. And which team from New York could do it.

And yada, yada, yada. Jalen Milro, same with him, same with this kid from Alabama. Certainly if he runs his 40. And again, I know quarterbacks who have running ability want to show that they can throw and thus don't run the 40.

I will say this too because again we don't know who is going to be the first two picks of this draft let alone could they be the quarterbacks let alone which one it could be. And I understand you want to sit there and go I got four years of tape, I got three years of tape, I'm I'm or in the case of Cam Ward I started at a school nobody's ever seen play. You know he started in standard definition and finished up in high definition or he went from standard def to high def to 4k. That's what that's kind of his path from incarnate word to Washington state to the U. And if I were him I'd show up and I'd throw the football out of the building. I'd scrape the roof of Lucas Oil Stadium you know if I were him. And I would do the same thing you know for any prospect that is not known to be for sure the first or second overall picks in this draft. And if there's anybody who knows how to game the draft and work the draft and figure out the draft and figure out the the aspects of the draft about branding yourself and having a certain standard and having putting the velvet ropes around the draft and having a certain velvet ropes around you it would be Chador's dad for sure. And one million percent that is part and parcel of Chador's decision making.

It makes sense to utilize that remarkable resource. But I also remember CJ Stroud's workout in that building. Best workout I've seen as a quarterback in years and years. And I don't know if that was the difference between him being drafted second overall or later because there was no doubt you know there was no doubt he was a top two in that draft. Yeah some guys had him first overall it was just a preference.

And he didn't beat out Bryce Young anyway who didn't work out at all. Right. So I just wish I could see it. It's a bummer that they're not doing it. And I'm just wondering if there's any old school mentality at all that they're not competing. That you're such a competitor you're just you're leaving the stage to others. You're not competing.

This is the way to compete. And if Cam Ward and Chador can handle that sort of criticism I'm sure Chador 100 percent can. I've not met Cam Ward. He did seem a little bit chippy about the notion that he tapped out of the second half of his bowl game and talked about others in that game who didn't even play the first half.

And I'm sure he will answer questions when he's done his combine interviews. What do you mean about that? Are you the type of guy who's going to throw you know your teammates under the bus? Should we take Mac no matter what instead?

You know based on you're not going to be invited to anybody's birthday parties. So we'll see if they can handle all that. But congrats to Jackson Dart and Jalen Milro and the rest of the quarterback's class.

Your spotlight just got a lot brighter on Saturday. And in terms of Cam Ward and Chador Sanders we'll see you at your pro days down the road. And I hope somehow someway it's not a definite as opposed to what we're hearing from Ian about Cam Ward. That would be great if he just says you know what I'll throw.

That would be awesome. And again I understand the reason why you don't throw. It's not injury. It's two things. One, my table is a little bit different. My tape speaks for itself.

I don't need to do this. And thus it elevates you in the mind's eye of others who I don't think have that antiquated sense of you're not competing. And the other thing is you know it's completely random who you throw to.

It's completely random. The wide receivers line up by number and you receive your number based alphabetically where you are and you have no idea. Guy is just small school guy who who is outstanding and makes a great catch.

Guy is big school guy who runs the wrong route. And you don't look as great. Don't look as great.

That said I don't know if these guys are are going to be first two picks in the draft. One of the main things we talked about in the overreaction Monday pod which is available for everyone to listen to. So please do that or watch it on our YouTube channel. Mike Mayock will join us in hour three. Albert Breer is on his way to Logan to fly to Indianapolis.

I think he's going to join us from the Logan airport terminal gate. Yeah. Wow.

Which sometimes in Logan not a great idea. I see. But we're taking Albert how we can get him. And the things that Albert I'll ask Albert about and I know Mike wants to talk about is Matthew Stafford will hit that subject matter later on this hour. But coming up next to start us off as the commissioner of the NHL I do believe the four nations face-off was one of the most successful.

I called it the one of the greatest advents since pylon cam. This may have filtered to the NHL because Gary Bettman is going to zoom into the program. As they say in hockey let's do that hockey. Let's do that hockey again. Ovechkin went for a hat trick. He's now a baker's dozen shy of breaking Gretzky's all-time goals scored record. Crazy.

Gary Bettman when we come back talking about the four nations who came up with the idea? Are they going to continue to do it? What's up with all that?

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That's OReillyAuto.com slash Eisen. I'm reading the um transcript of the introductory presser of Jaguar's GM James Gladstone. Okay. And I'm looking for the word Duvall. He came from the Rams. I know. Yeah. Duvall. I honestly think we should change it.

From the Rams to, you know, Liam Cohen was with the Rams too back in the day. Yeah. We should change it to that. What? Instead of Duvall, it should be the Duvall.

We should change it. So in support of the coach, the community starts doing it like he does. Exactly.

I think he needs to win a few games first. All right. Okay. You know what I mean?

Like making it seem like there's nothing wrong with it. We do it the same way. Yeah, we got your back. I appreciate that. We got your back. Sentiment, right?

I don't know. So there's that. We're about to do that hockey. We've been talking a ton of hockey.

Four nations. It was awesome. He's having a moment. You know, big last week. It was one of the most watched hockey games ever. Almost 10 million viewers. 9.3 in the US. 6.8 in Canada.

That was the Thursday championship. And we do the math for you always here. That's 16.1 million viewers in North America. That's crazy. I believe the 9.3 million in the US was the most of any hockey game in the history of ESPN. Yeah.

It was the most bet hockey game I saw metric on that. Is that right? Yeah.

Ever. Meaning, who was favorite? Was Team USA? It was pretty. It was even.

It was split. Okay. Yeah. So you're getting action both ways, but you know, in the history of most tickets, most money.

I know we shouldn't talk about this with the commissioner waiting on Zoom, but could you wager on which kachuck would score first? Yeah, you could wager on all that. Is that right? Yeah, I bet Team USA and I lost.

Hey, so much for nationalism. If you will. Back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnace, putting the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.

Call clickgrainger.com or just stop by. Albert Breer is making his way to Logan Airport, getting ready to go to the combine. We'll Zoom with him from there. Mike Mayock will join us in hour number three to get a set for the combine. But let's review the four nations face-off, the remarkable finish, the remarkable tournament with a man who just on the first of this past month celebrated his 32nd year as commissioner of the NHL. Gary Beckman here on the Rich Eisen Show. How you doing, commissioner? I'm great, Rich, and it's terrific to be with you.

Thank you, sir. I have been singing the praises of you, your crew, your staff, your league for this four nations face-off. I will give you the floor on your reaction now that it is all finished. We think it was a terrific event. It showed the passion that our players have for the game and the passion they have for representing their countries, but it's emblematic of NHL hockey. And I think with the wide appeal and how many people viewed it, hopefully we've turned on some more fans as we continue to grow the game. When did this first germinate this idea here of the four nations face-off?

That's a great question. It was kind of organic because we had decided with the Players Association to go back to international best on best competition, which meant we wanted to resume going to the Olympics every four years. And then in the intervening two years, we wanted to bring back the World Cup, which we hadn't done in a decade. And so once we figured out how we were going to do that and worked with the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation, we said, wouldn't it be great if we could give people a sample of what international best on best with NHL players would look like? And with the timeframe we had, we didn't think we could do more than a four nation, seven game round robin. And that's how we came up with the event.

And there was a lot of skepticism going in, particularly from people in your line of work, not from you, saying, this is just an exhibition. Nobody's going to care. But once you watched what the players were doing from the opening puck drop, you knew this was something they really cared about, but that's how hockey players are. It doesn't matter if it's a game of shinny on a frozen pond or a preseason game or an exhibition or the regular season or playoffs, when they get it on the ice, they come to play.

Well, and you know, I'll be honest, just that that would be kind of the least of my concerns if I were somebody in your position there. Was there any arm twisting of ownership to say these guys are going to put it on the line? Because everybody knows once you put the sweater on with your country in the front, what would ensue? You're shaking your head. No, no arm twisting.

I'm like, hey. First of all, let's go back historically. We didn't go, NHL players didn't go to the Olympics till 98 Nagano, which is something I did after I got here. And then we know that there's disruptions to our season. Taking a two week break in February, we're about to hit the stretch run based on how diverse internationally our player rosters are. Some teams in the NHL would be having more players play than others. And so after after Sochi, we decided to stop going. But it became clear to me, it became clear ownership that playing international best on best is really important to our players. And so we understood the disruption and yes, every time a hockey player suits up and gets on the ice, there's a risk of injury. But in the final analysis, everybody decided that this was important, particularly because it was important to the players and to the fans. So no one in ownership is calling you up now.

Let's just say they're paying a kachuk or the owners of the Bruins and Charlie McAvoy saying, hey, we took one for the team here. I mean, nothing like that right now. No, that's after the fact.

That's right. I didn't say I didn't get those phone calls, but it's going in there, didn't have to be arm twisting. Listen, it happens. It's unfortunate what John Chavaris had a leg injury in Sochi and missed the rest of the season. But people get it. But again, this it's an important element of the game. And when you see the response that we got, particularly with the viewership in North America and around the world, I think somebody told me that one of the games involving Finland was the second most viewed program in the history of Finnish television.

This is a big deal. And, you know, we we have great pride in our game. We think it's the best, the most competitive, the most exciting, the most entertaining and the most skillful.

And it's all part of the balance of what we do. Sixteen point one million viewers across North America watched Thursday's Canada versus USA four nations face off championship overtime thriller Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL here on the Rich Eisen show. How did you come up with the obviously Team USA in Canada?

We're going to get in there. How did you come up with Finland and Sweden as the four of the remaining countries we could consider? Those were the two that had among the most NHL players. And we could fully stock with NHL players without dealing with the federations and leagues in their home countries. Obviously, you're going to get to the Russian question, but that's beyond that's beyond us right now. That's a question of geopolitical matters, which we try to stay out of. And interestingly enough, I think two weeks ago, the International Ice Hockey Federation voted to continue the ban on Russia's participation in double IHF competitions.

We're probably going to hear from the IOC on that in the next couple of months, but we just go by what it is the governing world bodies, even though we're not completely subject to them, mandate. And, you know, so in the future here, this is the way it's going to go where you're going to send NHL players to the Olympics. Obviously, that's happening next. And then the four nations would return in the interim. Is that is that the plan based on what we just got here?

Actually, as I said, the four nations was kind of a quick appetizer. What we're going to do is Olympics two years later, a World Cup two years later, Olympics two years later, World Cup and the World Cup will have at least eight countries participating. And that's something we're in the process of finalizing.

And this world status may have something to do with exactly how we pull that all together. But we're looking to to do a full World Cup like you see in soccer. We we're going to look to do it in a variety of locations and not just in North America.

We'll be looking to do it in Europe as well. Four nations of the four nations is a one off. Well, I don't know.

It depends on the you know what? The success has been so quick and overwhelming. We've got a lot of things to consider to consider and sort out, including what our own all star game looks like going forward. So you're asking the absolute right questions.

And I don't have all the right answers yet because we've got a lot to work through. But it was all good because that's what I was saying from here, from this seat, commissioner, is that you cracked the code. The NHL cracked the code. You know, obviously, you know, the the association from which you came has some all star issues. My league that I work for, we're not sitting in this chair, the Pro Bowl, the commissioner basically said, let's just put flags on them.

And that's what they're doing. And Major League Baseball tinkered with so many different ways to try and make it seem to the players this is as important to to them as it is to maybe fans and the sport. Have you heard from any other sports at all? Any of your any of your staff heard from any other sports on what you just pulled off? Well, I'm hearing from my my staff that they're hearing from a lot of people, mostly in the form of congratulations. I haven't heard directly from my three counterparts at the majors. But, you know, that wouldn't surprise me because at some point we all talk to each other and it'll come up the point about breaking the code.

And I appreciate that. But we've taken chances before our skills competition hasn't had any of the issues that people complain about, maybe in large part because we do it with the input of our players who helped us devise the last set, which has a lot of different stations and things that demonstrate hockey skills, which are extraordinary. And going back to the All-Star game, I think it was in Nashville.

So that must have been seven or eight years ago. We went to a three on three mini tournament, which has worked very well for us. Nobody's ever complained about the players passion or interest in wanting to go all out to play it. So we've experimented over the years. This just took things to a new level. And, you know, listen, I know to whom I'm talking, I'm talking to a commissioner of a major sport here in North America and around the world where skill, as you just mentioned, is paramount.

Skating and speed and power and just, you know, putting it all in maybe the form of a human being like Ovechkin or McDavid, just to name a couple. But that said, when there were dropping of gloves three times in nine seconds, the first matchup between USA and Canada, that's where I think a lot of lapels got snapped back to say this is the real thing. What were you thinking when you were seeing this commission?

This is the real thing. There wasn't any doubt that the passions were high. People came to play. And while we try to stay out of, as I said, geopolitical issues, there was a little bit of an overlay on that between the great neighbors and allies of Canada and the U.S. And so I think it all came together. But when it comes to representing their countries, our players frankly have been doing that since they were teenagers, the world juniors, world championships. So we knew that they would all be up for this event.

You know, Finland and Sweden have a great rivalry, as they do with Canada and the U.S., who has a great rivalry. So we believed that the players were coming to play. And the feedback that we were hearing, Steve Mayer, who is our president of events, was telling me last night when we were in Los Angeles together for the skate for L.A. Strong, that he had bumped into a couple of players in the airport two weeks before Four Nations, and they were all telling him how they couldn't wait to get started.

They were all focused on playing in Four Nations, and it was still two weeks away. You know, and just a couple of minutes left with the commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, in the aftermath of the huge success of the Four Nations face-off, that it also didn't hurt. It was quite helpful that this was right around the 45th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, and Mike Eruzione's out there, and, you know, Johnny Godreau's sweater with Gretzky out there before the face-off. I mean, there was a certain sense similar. You know, again, I understand, you know, the Soviets in the United States, a totally different ball of wax with a bunch of amateurs back in 1980. But there was a real sense of this commissioner on Thursday night in Boston.

Absolutely. You know, it's ironic you bring that up because among the people, the celebrities that I saw last night in Los Angeles was Al Michaels. He is a huge fan. He made the call of the Miracle on Ice, a little Stanley Cup factoid. He was actually sitting with me in Montreal when I presented the Stanley Cup for the first time in 1993, and he was rhapsodic over how great this tournament was and what it meant to hockey.

So, yeah, you know, sports is made up, and you know this as well as anybody, of moments in time that are pitiful, that capture the imagination, and bring a sport to new levels of interest and excitement. This may have been one of those moments. Where were you for the Miracle on Ice?

Everyone remembers. Where were you? I was probably working. It was 1980.

I was a third-year associate at a law firm. Yeah, just watching on tape delay like the rest. Could you imagine if that happened today? Never, right? Well, everything today is more immediate than any of us either could have imagined or won.

But you know what? I've been doing this so long. You know, when I started in 93 at the NHL, and yes, I was at another place for a dozen years before that, but no sports league had websites. There were no social media platforms. I think we were at least a decade away from the iPhone going to the market.

I mean, so the changes that we've seen even past 1980 in the Miracle on Ice, I mean, the miracle of technology and what it has done to connect fans with sports has been incredible. Yeah, and you were mentioning Los Angeles a couple of times in this interview. The draft is coming here. Yes, it is. Correct?

At the theater, June 27th, June 28th. Okay. And we're changing that up a little bit. We always have done the draft a little differently than the NFL and the NBA. We would have all our clubs there, and they would come up and make the selections, use their own verbiage, make their own remarks. But they said, you know what? With all the people that are now involved in the draft and our situation war rooms at home, we'd rather stay there, and we can have events with our fans. So while we'll have all the prospects there, and it'll be a big deal draft, the fact is it's going to be centralized, and we'll be dealing with our clubs remotely.

Yeah, I mean, well, you had the sphere last year. My goodness gracious, that was something else. But that goes to, you know, your point about breaking the code.

We're happy to try things differently. And you know what? If you're going to try and break through and do things that nobody's ever done before, occasionally you're going to make a mistake, and you'll get criticized for it.

But that's okay. You got to try and push the limits. So are you going to soon be on the Ovechkin tour? Because it looks like he's going to have a break. He's going to have a big moment coming up shortly.

So do you. Wayne and I were having a discussion because we're going to do this together, whether or not we should start with five goals left or three or four goals left. Oh, I'm not sure based on what happened yesterday that we should be letting it get that close to the end.

You're a couple hats away, commissioner. I mean, you might have to be there, you know? Yeah, well, we'll be there. And he is just a marvel. And it's great to see how enthused everybody is, including Wayne, about the prospect of a record that nobody ever thought would be broken, actually being broken. And it's testament to a great record that Wayne set and a great career that Alex has had in terms of his skill, his dominance in the game and how he's managed to stay healthy for two decades. So the Wayne and Gary tour coming soon to the National Hockey League?

Coming to a show near you. Very good. Yeah, I know. And that was one of my, because we did have Al in studio last Friday to reminisce about the 45th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, which was Saturday. We surprised him both with Jim Craig and Eruzione.

So it was sort of like a this is your life moment for us to be able to provide to Al, which he deserves. But the reason why I bring it up is Eruzione said that before the drop of the puck on Thursday night in Boston, that he and Gretzky shared that they had never been nervous, except for that moment, for a hockey game. He said not even against the Soviets was he that nervous. And Wayne said the same thing.

He said, I'm never nervous for, you know, on a rink. But they were on Thursday night, Commissioner. They were.

You know what? Obviously, the game came down to one shot and McDavid, you know, leave him give him a space for a second and you see what happens. But but the game actually lived up to the hype.

Right. They had played Saturday night and that was a terrific game. And then this game, you know, either team could have won. But it was it was just awesome.

The atmosphere in Montreal and Boston, two great, great hockey cities just was fantastic. Commissioner, thanks for the time. Congrats again on that smash success of four nations. And, you know, if I may have the temerity, I think those who came up with the idea deserve a raise, Commissioner.

I'll make sure they get one. Thanks. Thanks for all you do to cover the game.

And great to be with you right back. Yeah. The only commissioner I ask for a raise is Goodell for me. So, you know, that's that's that's about it until now. So I appreciate it.

Next time I talk to him, I'll put in a good word. There is no I and Gary Bettman. There is one in commissioner.

Thanks for the time. Thanks. That's Gary Bettman of the NHL right here on the Rich Eisen Show. Nice. Boom. You know, boom.

Well, dropping of the gloves, as they say in hockey, let's do that hockey. I love that drop. I didn't make that.

That's a J. Felly. That is this. Thank you.

I have your credit. There's only four of them. Four. That's what we're going to do from now on is we're going to interview commissioners, come off of the interview, and then Mike Del Tufa will talk about the origins of drops. That's what we're going to do.

And then throw to a sports up. How about that? They're not going to they might not do the four nations. That's what I mean. Come on. I heard that last week. They'll do it again.

I read that. So, you know, it's one of those things. Could it be like the greatest one off ever? Right.

Players seem to love it. So I'm sure that can carry a little bit of weight. But with the World Cup coming back and Olympics. Right. That's every other year. So then it'll go Olympics, then, you know, skills competition and then World Cup and then skills competition then Olympics. Four nations could be like its own, you know, world baseball classic.

And in three or four years, his point is that four nations is just going to be eight nations called a World Cup. Right. Yeah. Yeah. So.

All right. Headline, though, is I'm getting a raise. He's going to put a word in for you.

Does that trickle down? Hey, commissioner to commissioner, that's got to carry some weight. He's asking for it.

Yeah, I'm saying there's only four of them, but like you might not get it. It's like the Olympics. Every four years I ask for a raise. You should pick that up maybe every year.

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Learn more at American Express dot com slash Amex Business. Let's talk TurboTax people. You might be sitting there going, wait a minute, Rich, I don't get it. It's not April. Why am I thinking about my taxes now?

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Get an expert now on TurboTax.com. To be quite honest, even just in the last few years. Yes. The team that gets that president's trophy, it's not a great thing. Right. It really is not that great a thing, especially in the playoffs. It is a streaky, luck-based system, practically. Yes.

In terms of clicking at the right time, hitting your peak at the right time, because the Stanley Cup playoffs, they are grueling. Have you, Colin Hanks, ever drank from the Cup? I have. Oh my gosh. And it was.

Talk to me about it. May I ask what you drank from the Cup? I'm pretty sure it was like a Molson Ice or something. Some Canadian brew, I'm sure. Yes.

It had to be a Canadian brew. Yeah. No, it was absolutely incredible. I mean, when your team finally wins the Stanley Cup and you've spent your entire life rooting for that team. Yes. And then it happens.

You cry like the little kid you were when you went to your first game. Right. My wife took photos, of course. Yes. Luckily, they have been deleted. They have been deleted. Yes, absolutely.

They mysteriously never made it. But then when you actually get a moment to be able to just see the Stanley Cup in person and then one of the players goes, hey, you want to drink out of it? I mean, it's giddy.

It's just childhood joy. You're not allowed to have it. You're not allowed to tip it yourself, though, right? The player tips it. Who tipped it for you?

Angé Coppitore. No. Well, Angé did. I drank from it a few times, if I'm being quite honest. On a few different occasions.

How many yachts are you water skiing behind, sir? No, it was Dustin Penner was the first time. Dustin Penner was the first one. And Coppitore was the second time?

And then Coppi did the second time. Yeah. I mean, when you're around the Cup, there are rules. Oh, very serious rules. There are rules. Very serious rules. In fact... And the only one, you can't hoist it either, right? Unless you've won it or... Correct. As I understand it, you know, people say you can't hoist it over your head and shoulders unless you're a player, but that's obviously not true because, you know, the equipment managers, the head coaches, a lot of them do that. So I think it's an organizational type role. You have to have some role within that organization to be able to do it, but they're probably not going to let Jim from accounting do that.

Unless he's a really great guy. It sounds like office space. Yeah, Jim, you're just, you know, did you get the memo? So again, for mere mortals, no hoisting, no tipping, but drinking is absolutely good. And you did that.

Yeah, I did it. We're doing that hockey, guys. We're doing a lot of that hockey. As we should. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show here on the Roku Sports... I miss Colin Hanks. We got to get him back in here.

We got to get him back. Agreed. Great people.

Yeah. Guys, and while we're talking about hockey, I'd be remiss if I didn't say rest in peace to the great Mike Lang, 46 years voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins, some of the most iconic, greatest calls of all time. The guy who really got me into hockey at a point where I was like, I don't like this sport and listening to him really helped, man.

So he passed away last week. So I'd like to offer my condolences to the great Pittsburgh legend, Mike Lang. Called all of Lemieux and Jager's goals. Let me tell you, if you didn't live in Pittsburgh during the Jaromir-Jager era, it was a sight to behold. I'm talking, if there was a game on the East Coast anywhere within a two-hour flight, Jager would show up at the club after.

Like it was, that part, that time was amazing and Lang was a huge part of it. Back on the Rich Eisen Show, don't let the urge to sing along to that catchy tune distract you from that truck drifting towards your lane or that lane splitting biker creeping up beside you. Because fortunately, every Hyundai offers advanced safety features that can alert you to potential dangers around you. And Hyundai has over 120 IIHS Top Safety Awards since 2006, because Hyundai is always working to ensure the road doesn't get you.

Hyundai vehicles have won over 120 IIHS Top Safety Awards from 2006-2024. Listen, every now and then there's a story in the NFL that comes along and I don't understand it. And this year's 2025 version of it, of I don't get it, is anything to do with Matthew Stafford. This guy is still slinging it, sidearming it, the whole business. No looking.

No looking. And the team that came closest to beating the Eagles in the playoffs are your Los Angeles Rams. In the snow after Saquon torched him twice again and is slapping his helmet running in to essentially ice the game and the Rams damn near pulled it off. And the Packers didn't come that close.

And we know the commanders didn't even get anywhere near them. And nor did the Chiefs. The Rams are the team that damn near pulled it off.

So why wouldn't the Rams just run it back? And they may. And they will.

And they should. But Matthew Stafford is slated to make $23 million after a $4 million roster bonus goes his way. And that's just not going to happen for a guy who is at the top of his game. And there are some issues, no doubt, about how long he wants to keep playing in the Rams. How long of a commitment will they make?

And do you pay him top of the market value when he hits age 38, 39, 40? So it isn't as simple as just like, yeah, let's run it back. Isn't it simple about that? So I understand it.

But that's all I understand. Tom Pelissero dropped a massive breadcrumb when he appeared on Friday. And I don't know what it was because we moved on to another subject matter of the fact that we got him zooming in from his Pilates class. But I didn't follow up on when he mentioned that the Rams have given his agent permission to go talk to other teams to find out what his market value is. And I guess, essentially, to report back. And Ian Rappaport chimed in on social over the weekend, echoing reporting from Tom that the Rams have given permission to Stafford's agent to speak with other teams about his value. This is not a trade request, is what he wrote. Instead, the Rams and Stafford can gain a better understanding of his value outside the team, potentially making it easier to get a contract done. And that remains the hope that outside help can assist in gauging the market and seeing his value, and that his results, this results in his return to Los Angeles. And that I don't understand, because when you're asking other teams to help you out, other teams are going to be like, yeah, no. The latest example of that, if you recall, or the most recent one that folks might easily recall, is when Lamar had requested a trade from the Ravens in his free agency period that wound up with him, or being franchise tagged, and wound up with him re-signing with the Ravens. And part of the reason why, potentially, he didn't get any bites was because why would any team go ahead and figure out for the Ravens what Lamar's fair market value is, when they were just going to use that information to re-sign him anyway? So why would teams willingly do that unless they've been given an impression that this could wind up with Stafford coming to them if they hit a certain number? And if outside help is being used to gauge interest, why wouldn't somebody just inflate the cost?

Yeah, we'll give you this much, knowing that it would stick the Rams. It's like your auction fantasy draft, TJ. You don't want them, but you know your buddy wants them.

So let's just pump up the cost a little bit. And the fact that he's not requesting a trade, but he's getting all the trimmings of a trade request. How does this work?

I mean, it's not a trade request. How does this work? Like, I don't kind of get it. It doesn't make any sense. Feels like this should be tampering, right?

It's not. If they've given him permission, go find out what your value is, report back to us, so at least we can have a better understanding of what to give you. And then the fact that this could wind up with the Rams being put in the same mosh pit as the Raiders and the Jets and the Giants and whoever else might be interested in finding who the next quarterback is. I hope he doesn't go anywhere because he's unbelievable in this system and with what the Rams did. Again, if he had some blocking up front in the Philadelphia snow, we might be having a whole different conversation over the last month plus in the NFL.

So headline, I don't get it. We'll talk about it with Breier and Mayock as well. I know Mayock is interested in talking about this.

He was texting me over the weekend about what we wanted to talk about in this weekly segment with him. And I don't kind of get, like, why would other teams be helpful to the Rams? Why would they do that unless they really think they can get Stafford? Unless they really want him.

It depends. Who wouldn't want him? Why wouldn't the Steelers?

That would fix everything. Let's go and draft another guy. Let's draft another guy and let's have Matthew Stafford come.

I turned to you, sir, my Pennsylvania friend. How would the Steelers nation love Matthew Stafford? Like, wouldn't they just absolutely adore him? Like, he would be perfect for them right now. But if you're Matt Stafford, does that benefit you going to Pittsburgh? Like, are you in a better position? Because you don't have a receiver as good as Pukanukua on the Steelers, right?

So that's one thing you have to, you've got to look at. And you're leaving Sean McVay. Leaving McVay. Now you're getting to work with Tomlin, who is another players coach. Wow, Arthur Smith.

That doesn't sound as good as Sean McVay. Like, come on. And indoors in LA. I mean, seriously, like if you're playing in your late 30s and you've got this arm, do you want to deal with snow? I mean, I'm ready to see how he was dealing with snow pretty well.

And having lived in both places, you know, like living where they're living now, maybe they're meant to the mountains and I don't know. But like you said, being an older quarterback with the weather, do you really want to go play in snow? Vegas should be calling the Rams. To say what?

You know what I mean? We'll flip you a conditional third. We'll give Matt, you know, 120 over three and we'll give Devante Adams back. Do you think Lions fans feel that they'd have a better chance winning with Stafford with this group of receivers in this roster than Goff?

Not that this could happen. Stafford didn't even win a playoff game or won a playoff game with Megatron. The whole thing is that if I'm Stafford, I'd want to finish here. If I'm the Rams, I want Stafford here because the next step is not apparent just yet. But do you want to spend 50 million on a 38 year old with the back and arm shoulder issues?

These are questions that are definitely difficult to answer. But there's enough there where I don't know if there's any smoke here. All I know is Albert Breer is zooming in from a Cinnabon right now. Your kids are older. It's Bravo children. The celebrity children of celebrity Bravo. Let's give them lala. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.